Al-Jazeera, Qatar
Jan 19 2008

Turkey protests mark writer’s death

Many in the crowd held black-and-white placards
that read "For Hrant, For Justice" [Reuters]

Thousands of demonstrators in Turkey have marked the first year
anniversary of the killing of Hrant Dink, a Turkish-Armenian
journalist gunned down in Istanbul last year.

People laid red carnations on Saturday at the spot outside the
offices of Dink’s newspaper in central Istanbul where he was killed,
amid increased security.

Dink was shot outside his office in Istanbul on January 19, 2007. The
subsequent investigation has triggered claims police failed to act on
warnings his life was in danger.

Police said that about 8,000 people had gathered at the location.

"We are at the pavement where they tried to clean his blood with
soap," Dink’s wife Rakel said in a speech from the office balcony.

"You are here for justice today. A scream for justice rises from your
silence."

The crowd held a minute’s silence at mark the moment when Dink was
shot.

Many in the crowd held black-and-white placards that read "For Hrant,
For Justice" in Turkish, Armenian and other languages.

"The killer state will be called to account," some chanted.

"I can see that justice has not been done and it makes me angry,"
said Ulas Arikan, an advertising executive who was at the protest.
"But I believe if we raise our voices justice will be achieved."

There was also some violence at the demonstrations as some protesters
clashed with police.

‘Killer state’

Ankara has vowed to prosecute all those responsible for Dink’s
killing and 19 suspects are on trial, with the next hearing due on
February 11.

"There is no doubt that article 301 contributed to intellectuals
being targeted, and some, like Dink, have paid the highest price"

Erol Onderoglu,
from rights watchdog Bia2

Although the chief suspect confessed to his murder, many press
commentators believe the police enquiry was deliberately flawed to
hide the true instigators.

According to a court indictment, one of the defendants in the Dink
case acted as a police informer and told the police of plans to
assassinate Dink in the months before the murder.

On Friday, rights group Amnesty International urged Turkey to widen
the investigation into his death and the media called for the alleged
complicity of security officials to be fully examined.

Dink had recieved a number of death threats over his writings.

His work also brought him a suspended 6-month jail sentence under
Turkey’s article 301, a law that makes it a crime to insult Turkish
identity.

Insulting Turkishness

The law has been used to prosecute a number of writers, like Dink,
who have written about Turkey’s role in the mass killings of
Armenians by Ottoman Turks and Kurds in 1915.

Erol Onderoglu, from the human rights watchdog Bia2, said: "There is
no doubt that article 301 contributed to intellectuals being
targeted, and some, like Dink, have paid the highest price."

Ankara has been unwilling to scrap the law, but in November last
year, suggested a revision of the law would soon be bought before
parliament.

Turkey has come under pressure from the EU to change the law, which
the European bloc sees as an obstacle to free speech and Turkey’s
goal of obtaining EU membership.